The present invention relates to bowling and, more particularly, to an apparatus for allowing persons with limited dexterity to manipulate a bowling ball.
Bowling is a very popular sport, enjoyed by persons of all ages and abilities. Unfortunately, the joint flexibility required to grip and control a bowling ball prevents certain persons from participating in this sport. For example, wheelchair users who must lean sideways from a sitting position, and persons suffering from arthritis and cumulative trauma disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome, cannot properly grip and control the ball, either due to their seated position or due to the nerve damage in their hands.
For wheelchair users, it is known in the art to provide ramps which are attachable to the chair for rolling the ball down. Unfortunately, such ramps are bulky, and do not allow the bowler much control over the speed or direction of the ball. Additionally, such ramps do not address the difficulty of gripping the ball, that wheelchair users and others often encounter.
Several attempts were made to solve the problem of allowing a person of limited dexterity to comfortably grip and control the bowling ball. One proposed system included a suction cup attached to a handle. The suction cup gripped the ball while the bowler held the handle. The bowler was required to use one finger of his gripping hand to plug a hole in the suction cup, and when the bowler was ready to release the ball, he removed his finger from the cup to break the vacuum. However, using one's finger to create the vacuum requires a certain amount of joint flexibility, which an arthritis or cumulative trauma sufferer tends not to have. Also, it is difficult to create a vacuum sufficient to lift the bowling ball by merely plugging the suction cup hole with a finger, since fingers vary so greatly in size and thickness.
A similar mechanism was proposed in an attempt to solve the problem of allowing comfortable gripping and control of a bowling ball, which eliminated the need to create a vacuum using one's finger. However, in this apparatus, the handle included interior valves, lever mechanisms, and machined holes which cooperated to create the vacuum. The vacuum and, thus, the ball, was then released when the interior valves were shifted, by using the thumb to depress a switch downward. Unfortunately, this apparatus is very complex and, therefore, expensive. Furthermore, with this design, the fingers are used to support the weight of the ball, while the thumb is only used to depress the switch upon release of the ball. Consequently, the thumb is prevented from providing any weight support for the ball, and the hand cannot comfortably curl around the handle, because the thumb must be suspended in air until the switch is ready to be depressed.
It is seen then that there exists a need for an improved means for allowing persons with limited hand dexterity to use a bowling ball which overcomes the problems associated with existing means, particularly a means which is ergonomically feasible, and is inexpensive to manufacture and produce.